The Blue Protocol team held a developer stream yesterday covering the Japanese network test, which had been delayed after some issues, and the new benchmarking software with the character creator.
While the game is still on track to release sometime this year (with Amazon Games as Bandai Namco’s global publishing partner), first up, (thanks to Blue Protocol DB for the translations) are some important tests and releases over in Japan. The major Japanese network test, which got a robust response in terms of applications, was delayed due to some issues. However, we can expect confirmation from the Japanese team as to when the network test will happen around mid-March.
On the stream, they announced that they are on schedule to fix the errors, but before they launch a huge network test, they're going to perform some large-scale internal testing to make sure that the network test opening up to players in Japan will run smoothly.
To prepare for the Japanese launch, including the test, the team has released benchmark software to let anyone interested test out their PC specs to see how things might look and run. The software will give you an idea, but the developers are prohibiting any datamining, but they are allowing people to use images and screenshots from the benchmarking software, without alteration, as long as they are properly marked as such. While the software was released in Japan and targeted at the Japanese audience ahead of the test, Blue Protocol DB spotted language options in the menu.
The benchmark software features the game’s character creator, the same that will launch with the Japanese version. Since the devs already cleared sharing of screenshots, streams, and video, we can expect more demos to pop up soon. You'll also be able to save presets and import them into the launch of the game, test out lighting, poses and get an example of some of the clothing options.
For more on the benchmark software, head to the official site (in Japanese).
